Alternian Bones
by Survivals Mistress
Summary: As Terezi fights for her life against an addiction to thin, who will pull her from the shadows?
1. Alternian Bones

_ When did it come to this?_ My body shivered violently as I cleansed myself of an evil that sought to destroy me. I was too strong to fall victim to the sweet temptation meant to entice me to my own destruction. One touch of the forbidden fruit and I would swell into an unrecognizable beast.

I wondered how long I would reek of vomit and shame. Water dances through my teeth until no demons remain. _Swish. Swish. Swish. _

All clean.

I could not see the excessive flesh on my ice body, but I could feel it. I could smell it.

"Yo, Terezi, how long are you gonna be in the bathroom? I gotta piss like mad." Dave asked from outside the door. I prayed he hadn't heard my gags.

"Just a second!" I coughed.

I licked my chapped black lips and opened the door to meet my waiting matesprit. I walked out forcing a slight smile, even as he rushed past me and shut the door behind him. That was Dave, per usual. Coolkid had too much pride to so much as smile at his…what did he call me?... "fuck buddy", I think it was. I had always thought the human equivalent to matesprit was boyfriend and girlfriend. Of course, I learned something new everyday.

My breath smelled of berry puke and desperation. I was certain that Latula had never stooped to this. She was perfect. Radical, even. She could be beautiful and loved effortlessly, but that was why I had been in pursuit of my own perfection. It would be mine at any cost.

I kept time to the rhythm of my footsteps as the sand of this meteor shuffled beneath them. It was hard to contain my thoughts, the voices that haunted me. As each grain of sand danced, there was a whisper in my ear telling me I would never be as weightless.

I never thought I was fat before. I had never noticed the slight rolls on my hips and stomach. I had never noticed the pudginess of my arms. Never before spent a sleepless night weeping over a double chin that wasn't there. I was bound in chains; trapped in an eternal cycle of starve, binge, purge. I would travel this path of self-destruction until the day I withered away to the bones I desired. The bones I needed so desperately, the bones I needed to see. I needed tocount each rib, each vertebrae of my spine, though I would never see them. I would wrap my hands around my thighs effortlessly, a perfect gap. No offensive flesh to impair it.

I would become bones. I would die to be bones. I was dying to be bones. I had already died to be bones.

I didn't need to breath to live, I needed an empty stomach.

**(A/N: Just a short introductory for a first chapter. Hope you like it.)**


	2. Matter of Time

My breath quickened and I felt my heartbeat become weak. I had walked too far, overexerted my malnourished body. I sat, leaning my back against a shady tree.

_How long have I been this way?_

It must've been less than a year, but I've only lost twenty-five pounds. I stood now at five-foot-five, ninety pounds. How could I continue to live with myself, being so revoltingly corpulent?

But I was so, so hungry. I hated myself for it, but I couldn't bear it anymore. I was a disgusting glutton, carrying berries in my pocket. Plump, smelling of vanilla and grape, I knew they were Alternian dragon berries. With no self-control, I greedily devoured a handful at once. They tasted sweet, with a tangy aftertaste that stuck on my tongue. Every part of me pleaded for more.

How could I have fallen so easily? I no longer had a need for fingers, opting to contract my stomach as I cleansed myself into the brush beneath me.

_I'm pure again._

"I just can't believe it's true." I heard a familiar voice, uncharacteristically calm.

"Karkat!" I yelled, wiping my soiled mouth. "You might want to leave. I'm _very _ill, probably contagious."

"Yeah, you're sick. That's pretty fucking apparent." He spit, glaring at me now. I almost swore there was concern in his eyes. "Everyone knows, Terezi. You look like you're dying, and that's because you are."

"You don't know shit! The hell do you think you know, Karkles?!" I was furious. My cold skin warmed for just a moment.

"What do I know?!" He was yelling now too. "I know you never eat. I know that you vomit what little sustenance you do get. Hell, I even went to Dave for help!"

"What?!"

"He's tried. He finds whatever excuse he can to get you out of the bathroom, but what can be done? He hears it, the horrible choking as you empty your abused stomach! It's always too late."

"Abused? No, this is a favor. Obesity is very unhealthy, you know."

"You were always slim, Terezi, but now you're a fucking time bomb. We're all bracing ourselves for the day we find you dead, with your head in the toilet."

I would not shame myself with tears. Adrenaline raced through my veins, straight to my right arm. With all the meager force I could manage, the palm of my hand stung his cheek. Somehow I was able to leave a mark.

Karkat cursed, but I didn't wait to see his expression. I ran as much I could force from my nonexistent leg muscle.

I found myself in a vast stretch of sand, too tired to carry on. My body slowly fell to the ground, I felt almost peaceful. Absorbing sunlight, the sand made me almost warm. The first time I'd felt real heat in months. My mind became hazy as I felt the slow drift into sleep.

Waking me up hours later was the lingering smell of indigo.

"What you doin' all up on the ground like a motherfucking wriggler?" His gruff voice purred.

"Fuck off, Gamzee."

"That's a good kismesis. Let hatred fill your think pan... among other things. Come on, girl, you know you're down with the clown." He placed his hands on me, his fingers lightly gripping at my shirt.

The clown gnawed at my neck as I dug my fingernails into his skin.

"Disgusting highblood." I whispered, kissing his jaw.

"You're a highblood too. You're a little too teal, though; you is a motherfucking phony." He wasn't gripping my shirt anymore, he was tearing it.

"I hate you."

"I hate you more."


End file.
